


free(fall)

by fantastiken



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-19 16:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12414153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantastiken/pseuds/fantastiken
Summary: When the world was created, there was Happiness.





	free(fall)

When the world was created, there was Happiness. Happiness took many forms — the perfect swirl of an ice cream, a brilliant sunset, full marks on the last test of the year, the soft lines of blankets on warm skin on a lazy morning. Sometimes, Happiness liked to walk around in the form of a boy with hooded eyes and curly strands of hair just obscuring them so, with full lips and heavy steps and the faintest hint of a sigh permanently hidden in his chest. 

Happiness liked to be called Yongguk, at times. Yongguk would roam through the ages, mingle with people and animals as he wondered at the simplest of things. He also liked to be by himself sometimes, enjoy the sounds of an unexplored forest or the sight of a clear brook steadily carving the floor of the mountain. 

He would learn from all those things, what they meant, what they entailed, and he would close his eyes and bask in the sunlight, the moonlight, the gusts of wind chilling his skin and curling his hair even more so. Learning was good. Sometimes a little sad, a little discouraging, but he was still Happiness at the end of the day, so it did not matter. 

It wasn't lonely. Happiness would talk directly to people very rarely — observing and listening were more his forte. His presence, in whichever form he took, brought mirth and bliss all around the world. The joyful tears he would often spark were nothing compared to the wondrous smiles he would awaken more often than not. 

Knowing that he was good at doing his job was more than enough. It wasn't lonely. 

*

*

One day, Yongguk met a little boy. His cheeks were wet with tears and splotchy with dirt, and there was a bleeding wound on his knee from when he had fallen a few seconds before. The boy — Junhong, he would sob with a high-pitched voice a few seconds later — sat on the ground and stared at the small cut on his knee in confusion, almost as if it were alien and he didn't know what to do with it. 

Yongguk helped him up with concern written all over his features and did his best at cleaning and patching up the wound. "Are you okay?" 

Junhong nodded slowly, still pouting. 

It was not common that Happiness stayed anywhere for too long, but Yongguk couldn't help but sit down on the ground, in front of the little boy, and listen to him. It seemed that his concern had sparked Junhong’s curiosity and he suddenly had many questions for Happiness, who smiled patiently as he answered all of them until it was time for Junhong to go home with a wide grin on his face. 

It was lonely. 

*

*

Time passed, day after day and year after year, and Junhong grew up. His voice stopped being high-pitched and he no longer had to look up to meet people in the eye. Yongguk couldn't stay in one place for a long time, but he made sure he dropped by once every few years and visited Junhong. During his visits they would talk, and Happiness would listen attentively to all of Junhong's stories, the anecdotes he'd collected through many months and also to his silence. It was nice, and Yongguk didn't feel lonely. 

They were never strangers. No matter how many times they had seen each other, Junhong never ran out of questions for Yongguk. He never questioned why Yongguk's aspect never changed or why he never grew old, his voice weaker and his back hunched. It was almost... It was as if he knew who Yongguk was. 

Until one day, he made the question. 

"What are you?" he said, looking straight into his eyes. It wasn't accusatory, it wasn't demanding or furious — it was plain curiosity, just one of the many questions he was always ready to ask. Except this one felt like he had been chewing it over for the whole of eternity. 

Yongguk stared back at him for a few seconds, mulling over his answer before casting his eyes down. "I have many names, but Happiness is the one you might be looking for." 

And it was as if something had clicked in Junhong's mind right in that moment, because he looked at Yongguk like he was seeing him for the first time, but also as if he understood him better than he ever had. He stayed silent for a long while, though. He stayed silent and observed Yongguk as if he wanted to say something but couldn't figure out how to. 

"You look very sad, for being Happiness." 

How had he seen it? Happiness swallowed the knot that had his throat squeezed tight, asphyxiating, and blinked away the moisture in his eyes. How did Junhong know? 

He didn't have much time to think about any of his questions because a warm finger poked one of his cheeks delicately and stopped his train of thought. He looked at Junhong, not knowing what to expect and maybe shaking a little, and found soft eyes staring back at him. 

"You don't have to be sad for others to be happy," he said, poking Yongguk's cheek again, and Yongguk felt suddenly _amazed_. How had he not realized who — what — Junhong was before? "You can be happy, too." 

When the world was created, there was Happiness. There was also Anger, and Honesty, Carelessness, Destruction, Humility and many, many others. Happiness had met a great deal of them through the years, and so he had thought of himself a good observer. He now understood that he was rather blind as he wondered how he hadn't realized that Junhong was none other than Hope. 

The questions he had been asked through the years were always meant to keep him on his toes, to have something to look forward to. It had been worth it for he didn’t feel as lonely. 

Happiness stared into Hope’s eyes, into his soft boyish smile, and felt a little more like himself. Maybe Junhong was right, and he could also be happy — Junhong did look, indeed, hopeful.


End file.
